Face Down
by LilySpears
Summary: "But...I love him..." William watches as Grell gets pulled further and further down in a destructive relationship. Can he save him before its too late?


**Author Notes: **This was a request from a close friend of mine. Inspired by the song Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Oddly enough, I planned the ending of this before I had even planning the plot to get there. There is Mpreg in this, only because I couldn't think of anything else that would push Grell over the edge.

**Face Down**

**Disclaimer**: William T Spears, Grell Sutcliff, Ronald Knox and Sebastian Michaelis belong to Yana Toboso.

**Warning: Abuse, violence, blood, death, very brief mpreg**

The clock on William's wall slowly ticked past ten am. William sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Grell was over three hours late for work. He wasn't known for his punctuality, but even by his standards this was seriously pushing it. William began to pace his office floor, preparing to give Grell a proper lecture when he finally decided to show his face. Footsteps echoed through the office door as someone walked up the hallway; William looked up as he recognised the tell tale scrape of Grell's heels upon the carpet. He stopped square in the middle of his office, facing the door, waiting for Grell to come bursting through it as per usual. The scrape of Grell's shoes completely passed William's office. William frowned as he heard the creak and thud of Grell's door opening and closing. Grell never walked straight to his own office, even when he was late. William walked out into the hallway; he noticed a small trail of blood drops on the carpet, leading to Grell's office. William ran over and knocked on the door,

"Sutcliff, open the door" he said. No response. He knocked again, louder,

"Open up Grell. I know you're in there" said William. Still no answer. William seized the handle and pushed open the door. The room was dark; the curtains had yet to be opened. Grell was stood by the far wall, staring at his mirror. Even in the dim light, it was hard to miss the swollen black eye and large gash down one cheek. Tears ran down Grell's cheeks as he dabbed make up on his bruise. He winced every time the sponge hit his purple skin. William walked over, standing behind him quietly,

"Grell, what happened?" he asked. Grell jumped, dropping the box of make up,

"Don't sneak up on me!" he said, turning to face the other reaper. He knelt down to pick up the split make up; William noticed his hands were trembling. He knelt down and took them in his own,

"Did he do this?" he said, quietly "Tell me, did he do this to you?",

"No!" shouted Grell, a little too loudly. He pulled his hands away from William and quickly tried to hide the make up "I-I…I fell over…walked into a door….it was an accident!". He turned away from William and tried to busy himself with his paperwork. Tears slipped down Grell's cheeks and stained the papers on the desk. William sighed and turned to leave,

"Stop defending him Grell" he said, walking out of the door "He's not worth it". Grell didn't turn around. He sniffled and raised his head, gazing at his reflection in the mirror,

"But…I love him…"

Everyday that week, Grell arrived at the office with new injuries. One day his cheek was bruised and swollen, the next he had several large scrapes across his forehead, as if he had been forced into a wall. By mid week one of his eyes was swollen shut and he was walking with a bad limp. It was now Friday. William stood in front of Grell's office door, afraid to see what injuries he would have today. Sighing, William grabbed the handle and gently pushed the door opened,

"Grell?" he said, softly. The office was still dark, like it had been all week. Grell's desk was covered in piles of outstanding paperwork. The room smelt musty, like it was badly in need of dusting. William looked around; a quiet whimper caught his ear. Grell was huddled in the corner, crying with one arm wrapped around his chest. Ronald was knelt in front of him, trying to bandage his wrist. William walked over and knelt beside Ronald,

"What happened?" he asked,

"Grell senpai said he tripped over and hurt his wrist" said Ronald "I told him to go to the nurse, but he refused",

"I don't need to see the nurse" protested Grell, wincing every time he took a breath "It's just bruising; it'll go away on its own". William gently took Grell's injured wrist from Ronald and tried to move one of his fingers. Grell shrieked in pain and sharply pulled his wrist away, cradling it against his chest. William sighed and stood up again,

"Take him to the nurse Ronald; force him if you have to" he said "I have to leave, I expect all of Grell's paperwork to be up to date by the time I return" he turned on his heel and left the office before Ronald could open his mouth to argue.

A little while later, William walked onto the grounds surrounding Phantomhive Manor. Pointing his scythe at one of the windows like a gun, William pulled the trigger to extend it. It shot through the glass with a deafening smash. Sebastian appeared seconds later, brushing glass shards from his tailcoat. He calmly forced William's scythe back through the hole and carefully opened the window,

"William, such an unwanted surprise" he said, smiling politely "To what so I owe this displeasure?" William growled and aimed his death scythe at Sebastian's head. Sebastian quickly dodged; the scythe skimmed past his ear, missing it by a fraction of an inch. He grabbed hold of it and pulled, dragging William through the open window,

"Your aim is getting better" said Sebastian, a smug grin on his lips "You almost took off a couple of inches of my hair". William glared and tugged his scythe away from Sebastian. He dropped it on the floor and drew back his fist, punching Sebastian as hard as he could,

"If you ever come near Sutcliff again…" he hissed. Sebastian smirked and chuckled,

"My my, you're the last person I expected to defend him" he said "What do you care if I play with Grell a little?" he barely flinched as William's death scythe appeared inches in front of his face,

"I'm warning you demon" said William "You lay even a finger on him and I won't hesitate to reap you" Sebastian laughed again,

"Is that the pot and the kettle I hear?" he said "Not all the bruises are from me, you know" he swiftly bent backwards as the death scythe shot forwards, narrowly preventing the tip impaling his right nostril,

"Does it feel good, inflicting all those bruises?" snarled William "Do you feel more of a man pushing him around, is that it?"

"Honestly William, you make me sound like such a monster" said Sebastian "It's hardly my fault if Sutcliff can't get the message and leave me alone"

"He's in love with you!" shouted William, a hint of jealousy almost slipping into his voice "And he thinks you feel the same". Sebastian rolled his eyes,

"Then he's an even bigger idiot than I thought" he said. He gasped as William forced him back against the wall with his scythe, the clip at the end pressed over his neck,

"You will not touch him!" hissed William "You will leave him alone or I'll shove this scythe through that dark space you call a heart!". Sebastian grabbed the scythe and pulled it away from his neck,

"As long as he keeps bothering me, I will do as I like" he said, coughing slightly "After all, if he chooses to seek me out there's not much we can do". William sneered at Sebastian and turned to leave,

"I'll make sure he stays away" he said "I'll show him not everyone is complete scum like you"

The next day Grell didn't show up for work. William was slightly worried, but he figured Grell was resting his wrist and calmly carried on with his work. When Grell failed to turn up three days running, William started to get scared. On the forth day, William snapped. He stood from his desk and disappeared from the office, not even pausing to let anyone know he was gone. He ran through the wet streets straight to Grell's house, running up the porch steps and forcing his way through the door without bothering to knock,

"Sutcliff!" he shouted "Grell, please tell me you're in here!" A low whimpering sound echoed from the ceiling. William raced up the staircase, leaping two stairs at a time. He barged his way into the main bedroom; Grell was huddled in the corner crying. William immediately walked over and sat down next to him, he pulled Grell into his lap and hugged him,

"Don't cry Grell" he said, stroking Grell's hair "Please don't cry". Grell sniffled and buried his head in William's shoulder,

"He killed it…" he whimpered "He killed it! He killed it!" Grell burst into tears again. William held him close, rocking him until he calmed down,

"What happened?" he asked, calmly. Grell carefully wiped his eyes, his head still rested on William's shoulder,

"A-At the weekend…I-I found out I was having a baby…" Grell smiled ever so slightly; placing a hand on his stomach "I was so happy, I couldn't stop smiling all day…" he trailed off, tears forming in his eyes. William frowned. Grell was pregnant? How was that possible?

"I know what you're thinking" said Grell, wiping his eyes again "I don't know how it happened either, but I didn't care, I finally had what I had been dreaming of" he stopped talking as more tears spilled down his cheeks. William held him close,

"What happened then?" he asked,

"He came" said Grell "H-He came…and he knew…". William sighed. He could sense where the story was going,

"Grell" he whispered "I'm so sorry"

"He took it!" shouted Grell, crying fresh tears "My once chance and he took it away!" he clung to William and cried hysterically. William held onto him, raw anger boiling in his veins. He didn't return to work that day. He stayed at Grell's house, being the other reaper's shoulder to cry on until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion. William carefully tucked him into bed and then laid down next to him,

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" he whispered "But I promise from now I'll make things better". Grell opened one eye sleepily,

"I hope so" he mumbled "Because I've finally had enough".

The next morning, Grell and William arrived at the office together. Grell seemed happier, although his smile was obviously forced. He turned to William and kissed his cheek softly,

"Thank you for staying with my last night" he said. William smiled back, a barely noticeable pink blush on his cheeks,

"You're welcome" he said "Would you like me to stay again tonight?"

"I'd like that" said Grell. He let go of William's hand and began to walk down the hallway,

"I have to visit the Ladies' Room" he said "Won't be a minute" he continued to walk away. He turned suddenly and ran back to William, hugging him tightly. Grell rested his head on the taller reaper's shoulder, close to his ear,

"I love you" he whispered. He let go and turned on his heel, running down the corridor and out of sight. William frowned slightly in confusion. He shrugged it off and started to head towards his office. A gun shot rang out along the corridor, every reaper on the floor froze. William's eyes widened, his ledger slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. He turned and raced to the bathrooms, shoving many of the other reapers out of the way. Trembling, he reached for the door handle and pushed the door open. William screamed and fell to his knees. One pristine white wall was splattered with blood; more of the crimson liquid was oozing across the tiles. A body clothed in red was slumped against the wall, a steaming revolver in his pale hand.

Grell Sutcliff was dead.


End file.
